Man&#39;s undergarment



Patented Feb. 9, 1943 MAN S UNDERGARMENT Franklin Chatield and Jennie M. Lindh, Minneapolis, Minn., assignors to Munsingwear, Inc., Minneapolis, Minn., a corporation of Delaware Application December 23, 1941, Seria1No. 424,122

3 Claims.

This invention relates to new and useful improvernents in mens 'undergarments, and more particularly to the construction of the crotch and leg portions thereof.

In the manufacture of undergarments of the character herein disclosed, particularly such garments having leg portions, it has been customary to provide gores at the inner sides of the leg portions in order to provide a proper fitting garment. Such gores obviously add to the cost of manufacturing the garment, and it is therefore desirable that the garment be so designed as to eliminate the necessity of gores in the construction thereof, as much as possible, in order that the cost thereof may be reduced to a minimum.

The novel garment herein disclosed has been designed with the view of providing a simplified garment embodying al1 of the desirable features f of such a garment, but which comprises a minimum of gores in its construction, whereby the garment may be manufactured at low cost.

An object of the present invention, therefore,

(Cl. 12S- 159) is to provide an undergarment of the class de- A scribed, comprising a main body portion provided withleg portions and a crotch portion, and in which each tubular leg portion may be completed without a gore by the provision of a single seam, after which portions of said leg portions are secured to the side edges of the crotch piece, in the operation of completing the formation of the garment. v

A further object is to provide a garment made from a blank comprising a body forming portion and suitable leg forming portions, and said blank having an opening in the seat formingV portion thereof vfor receiving one end of a crotch piece or gore, said opening and the portion of the crotch piece received therein being so fashioned that the complemental 'edges of said opening and crotch piece may be secured together by suitable stitching, after which the complementa] edges of the leg forming portions of the blank may be secured together to form the tubular leg portions of the garment.

A further and more specific object of the invention is to providea garment which may be made from two or more blanks, of which at least one constitutes the body and leg portions of the garment, and another the crotch piece or gore, and the body blank having an elongated opening therein extending inwardly from one edge of the blank and terminating at its inner end in an enlarged opening, having substantially the shape of a segment, whose longitudinal axis is disposed in substantially right-angular relation to the longitudinal axis of said elongated opening, said segment-shaped opening being adapted to receive the rear enlarged portion of the crotch piece, and the edges of the body blank which define the sides of said elongated opening being adapted to be secured to complemental outer edges of the blank to complete the formation of the leg portions of the garment.

Other objects of the invention reside in the novel shape of the body blank, and particularly the opening provided in the seat portion thereof for receiving one end of the crotch piece; in the unique shape of the crotch piece relative to the shape of the opening in the body blank, whereby the crotch piece may have certain of its marginal edge portions stitched to the body portion without shirring the material; in the provision of extended slits in the fabric at the opposed ends of the segment-shaped opening, to facilitate stitching the crotch piece to the body blank; and in provision of such a garment which will be comfortable to the wearer and may be manufactured in quantity production at small cost.

Other objects of the invention will appear from the following description and accompanying drawings and will be pointed out in the annexed claims. l. 1

In the accompanying drawings there has been disclosed a structure designed to carry out the various objects of the invention,I but it is to be understood that the invention is not confined to the exact features shown, as various changes may be made within the scope of the claims which follow.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front view of a garment embodying our design;

Figure 2 is a rear view of the garment showing the manner of securing the rear portion of the crotch piece to the seat and leg portions of the garment;

Figure 3 is a perspective View showing the garment on a iigure;

Figure 4 is a view showing the crotch and leg construction of the garment;

Figure 5 is a view showing the blank which constitutes the front panel or section of the garment;

Figure 6 is a view showing the unique design of the body blank, which includes the body and leg forming portions;

Figure 7 is a view showing the blank from which the crotch piece is made; and

Figure 8 is a fragmentary view showing the slits provided at the ends of the segment-shaped opening in the body blank, and also showing the inner sides of the leg forming portions of the blank turned upwardly.

In order to alord a clear explanation of the present invention, there is illustrated in Figure l, a garment comprising a main body portion 2 having leg portions 3-3, which, for the sake of clarity, will hereinafter be referred to as legs, and a crotch portion 4. The main body portion 2 of the garment may be constructed of one or more blanks, or of tubular knit fabric, as may be desired, In the present instance, the body of the garment is shown made from a main body blank 5, shown in Figure 6, a front panel or section 6, shown in Figure 5, and a crotch blank 1, shown in Figure 7.

To construct a garment of the particular type herein illustrated, the main body blank 5 is shown provided with leg portions 8 8, separated by an elongated opening 9 extending upwardly from the lower edges I I of the blank and terminating at its upper end in an enlarged opening I2, which is substantially in the shape of a segment, as shown in Figure 6. The leg portions 8-8 are defined by the edge portions II), I I and I3, the edges I and I3 of the respective leg portions 8 preferably curving outwardly from their lower ends, as clearly illustrated in Figure 6. The uppermost ends of the edges I3 defining the opening 9, are spaced apart to provide a restricted opening I4 which connects the elongated opening 9 with the segment-shaped opening I2.

An important feature of the present invention resides in the unique shape of the leg portions 8-8 in combination with the opening I2, whereby the legs 3-3 of the garment may be completed, as shown in Figure 4, without the use of gores or inserts, and without shirring the fabric, in the operation of completing the formation of the legs 3-3 and securing them to the crotch piece 4, as illustrated in Figure 4.

As best shown in Figure 6, the longitudinal axis a-a of the segment-shaped opening I2 is disposed in substantially right-angular relation to the longitudinal axis b-b of the opening 9. It will also be noted that the upper curved edge I6 of the opening I2 has its ends terminating in the axis a-a, and the bottom edge portions I1 of the opening I2 are disposed in the axis a-a. Slits I8 are provided at the ends of the edges I1, and form, in effect, continuations of said edges, which extend into the fabric beyond the ends of the curved or arched edge I6.

The slits I8 are important in the construction of the garment in that they make it possible to stitch the enlarged portion I of the crotch piece or blank 1 in position in the opening I2 without having to make a sharp turn in the stitching, which is always objectionble, in that the stitches usually become bunched at such turns, and it also consumes more time in the operation of making the seam. This will readily be understood by reference to Figures 2, 4 and 8, wherein it will be noted that the seam 21 is void of sharp turns,

The crotch blank 1, shown in Figure '1, is provided with outwardly extending wings I9, which, when stitched together along their corresponding edges 2I by a seam 22, provide a suspensory, generally designated by the numeral 23, when the garment has been completed, as shown in Figure 3. To construct a garment from the blanks 5. 6 and -1, the suspensory 23 is first com- 'M pleted, or partially completed by sewing together the edges 2I of the wings I9 of the crotch blank 1 by the seam 22. If the garment is to be provided with a horizontal iiy opening, as shown at 24 in Figures 1, 3 and 4, a suitable elastic binding 25 may be secured to the upper aligned edges 26 of the wings I9 of the crotch piece 4 by suitable stitching, as clearly illustrated in the drawings.

In the next operation, the curved edge 26' of the rear end portion I5 of the crotch piece is stitched to the rear edge I6 of the segmentshaped opening I2 of the body blank 5, by the stitching 21, the ends of which may terminate in substantially the axis af-a, as will be understood by reference to Figures 6 and 8. The side edges I 0 and I3 of the two leg portions 8-8 of the body blank are next secured together by seams 36, to construct the tubular legs 3 3 of the garment, as shown in Figure 4. When the legs 3-3 have thus been partially completed, the front section or panel 6 may next be embodied in the garment by securing the side edges 28 thereof to the side edge portions 29 of the body blank by suitable seams or rows of stitches 3 I, which extend downwardly from the top of the garment, as shown in Figure 4. The seams 3l, in addition to securing the front panel in position in the garment, also secured the side edge portions 32 of the suspensory to the edge portions 33 of the body blank, and also the edge portions 34 to the leg portions, as will be clearly understood by reference to Figure 4.

'I'he lower ends 35 of the seams 3| close the slits I8, and, at the same time, lock the ends of the seam 21 against raveling, as will be readily understood by reference to Figures 2 and 4. It will also be noted that the seams 3I traverse the inner ends of the seams 36, whereby these seams also are secured against raveling.

If the garment is to be provided with a horizontal fly opening, as shown in Figures 1 and 4, the upper portion 31 of the suspensory or crotch piece is arranged to overlap the lower portion 38 of the front section or panel 6, as best shown in Figure 4. When thus constructed, the lower edge of the front panel 6 is preferably provided with an elastic binding 39, which cooperates with the binding 25 of the suspensory, to normally maintain the fly opening in closed position.

The fabric from which the blanks 5 and 6 are made is preferably stretchable in a horizontal direction in the garment, as indicated by the arrows in Figures 5 and 6, whereas the stretch of the material in the crotch piece is in a fore-andaft direction, as indicated by the arrow 4I in Figures 4 and 7.

By shaping the body blank 5 so that the openings 9 and I2 combine to provide, in effect, a T-shaped opening, the legs 3-3 of the garment may be formed without gores and may be stitched to the edges of the opening without shirring the material or fabric, as will be clearly understood by reference to Figure 4, It will also be noted that the construction of the garment is extremely simple in that the various blanks may be secured together by the rows of stitches 21, 3I and 36, as hereinbefore stated, which rows of stitches are in the forni of. plain seams, which may be quickly made on conventional sewing machines.

When the body of the garment has been completed, a suitable elastic band or tape 42 is preferably secured to the upper edges of the main body blank 5 and. front panel 6, as shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3, andthe bottom edges of .the

legs 3-3 are also suitably finished, as indicated in the drawings, and as is customary in garments of this general type.

In the drawings, we have shown the garment as composed of three blanks. It is to be understood, however, that the body portion of the garment may be made of one or more blanks, as desired, or of tubular knit fabric, or in any other manner which may be considered practical, without departing from the scope of the invention.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that we have accomplished at least the principal objects of our invention, and it will also be apparent to those skilled in the art that the embodiments herein described may be variously changed and modified, without departing from the spirit of the invention, and that the invention ls capable of uses and has advantages not herein specically described; hence it will be appreciated that the herein disclosed embodiments are illustrative only, and that our invention is not limited thereto.

We claim as our invention:

1. A main body blank for a garment comprising leg forming portions and having a segmentshaped opening therein whose longitudinal axis is disposed in substantially right-angular relation to the vertical axis of the blank, and suitable slits extending into the fabric from the ends of said opening to facilitate formation of the leg portions of the garment.

2. A main body blank for a garment having a segment-shaped opening in the lower central portion thereof whose longitudinal axis is disposed in substantially right-angular relation to the vertical axis of the blank, and an elongated opening in the vertical axis of the blank extending downwardly from the segment-shaped opening to the lower edge of the blank, said openings facilitating the formation of the leg portions of the garment.

3. A main body blank for a garment comprising leg forming portions and having a horizontally disposed elongated opening in the central portion thereof, and a vertically disposed opening in the vertical `axis of the blank extending downwardly from said horizontally disposed opening to the lower edge of the blank, said openings facilitatng the subsequent formation of the leg portions of the garment.

FRANKLIN CHA'I'FIELD. JENNIE M. LINDH. 

